Posted on 10/03/2010 9:12:54 AM PDT by kristinn
ABC News' Christiane Amanpour has done a great service today with her panel discussion on whether America should fear Islam.
Thanks to guests Franklin Graham, Robert Spencer and Peter Gadiel refusing to submit to Allah and political correctness, and the brashness of Anjem Choudary, Americans watching broadcast television have learned more about Islam in the hour long show than many have in the nine years since 9/11.
Franklin Graham was unapologetic in his stance on Islam, however he differentiated between Islam the religion and Muslim people. Gary Bauer and Ayaan Hirsi Ali also deserve credit for speaking truth to Islam on the broadcast.
AMANPOUR: I would like to go to Reza Aslan, who is joining us from Amsterdam, and who is a scholar on these matters. Reza, you have heard just right now several points raised. One is that Muslims in this country are trying to bring Sharia law. Is there a shred of evidence for that?
REZA ASLAN, WRITER, "THE DAILY BEAST"/author: No, not a single shred whatsoever. I think somebody needs to remind Franklin Graham that we don't judge our values in the United States by comparing them to what the Saudis do. This is a common refrain that you hear from a lot of anti-Muslim activists in the United States, including Robert Spencer, that, well, if, in Saudi Arabia, you can't have a church, then, therefore, in the United States, you shouldn't be allowed to have mosques. This is an appalling and laughable argument.
GRAHAM: You know we can have an argument -- but I'm not here to argue. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and that no man comes to the father in heaven except through him. I don't believe in Islam. I don't believe a word of it. I do respect their right to -- to believe whatever they want to believe. My opinions are not based on hearsay. My opinions are based on 50 years of working in Middle Eastern countries. I'm 58. I was -- eight years old when I made my first trip to Egypt. And I've been to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia. I've worked in these countries. But I disagree, Christiane, with -- with the Sharia law, because they do stone women. They do imprison -- I -- I've worked in the Sudan, where they've burned over a thousand churches -- a thousand.
... GRAHAM: When we talk about -- there are millions of Muslims in this world that are wonderful people, who don't beat their wives, who don't practice honor killings--
AMANPOUR: Why do you call it a wicked religion, an evil religion?
GRAHAM: I think to -- to take your daughter, because you think that -- and the religion gives you the authority -- Sharia gives you the authority for honor killing. And we saw the young girl in Ohio just a few--
....
KHAN: Well, this -- this particular center will create a counter-momentum against extremism, because it will amplify the voices of moderate Muslims, which have gotten drowned out over the years by the extremists, because the extremists did not only hijack the planes, they hijacked an entire religion.
AMANPOUR: Let me just say stop you there for a second, because this side is obviously the side that says one shouldn't fear and that there are moderates and the whole religion should not be painted with the same brush. I want to, though, now go to Anjem Choudary in London. You have said that you think there should be Islamic domination. Why shouldn't people be afraid of that?
CHOUDARY: Well -- well, let me just say that Islam has a solution for all of the problems that mankind faces. If you want to live at peace with Muslims, we are quite willing to live at peace with you. But let us remember that history did not begin on 9/11. Before 9/11, the Americans -- the American government bombed Sudan and Afghanistan. They were supporting the pirate state of Israel. So 9/11 was a reaction. You know, I think that we need to get away from the stereotyping. And this idea that you have moderate Muslims and you have radical Muslims, you know, it's complete nonsense. A Muslim is the one who submits to the command of the creator. If he submits, he is a practicing Muslim. If he is not, then he should be practicing.
DAISY KHAN: I have to disagree with him, because Islam is a religion of pluralism that embraces all religions and it also embraces different interpretations. This is why we have so many schools of thought. What Anjem is talking about is an exclusivist view of Islam, which is my way or the highway. And my interpretation is the only interpretation--
CHOUDARY: It's very easy for people to justify the fact that they're not practicing. I mean, this lady in your studio, she should be covering with the hijab. She's obviously not practicing --
(CROSSTALK)
CHOUDARY: There are many people who are justifying -- there are many people who are justifying the inability to practice the Sharia, to say, "Well, I have a different form of religion." You know, people want to claim that they're vegetarians and they're eating big beef burgers. You can not be a non-practicing vegetarian. Therefore, similarly, if you're a Muslim, you submit to the Sharia.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM: He's telling the truth.
AMANPOUR: You see, Reverend Graham says you're telling the truth. So, do you agree with Reverend Graham and our panelists on this side that Americans should fear Islam?
CHOUDARY: we do believe, as Muslims, the East and the West will one day be governed by the Sharia. Indeed, we believe that one day, the flag of Islam will fly over the White House. Indeed, there's even an oration of the Prophet where he said, "The day of judgment will not come until a group of my oma... -- "
DONNA MARSH O'CONNOR: Can I just -- ?
CHOUDARY: "Conquer the White House."
...
AMANPOUR But is it a question now of, basically, tarring or conflating, confusing everyone, 1.57 billion Muslims around the world, with that minority group who would do harm and who would cause violence?
GADIEL: I do not say that Islam is evil. I say there is a lot of evil connected with it. That is a problem for Muslims themselves. They have to cure the problem. We're supposed to believe Ms. Khan here, that she can cure the problems of Islam at the fringes. The problem goes to the core, and that is the countries -- you cannot ignore Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the other countries that, undoubtedly do oppress people of a different religion --
AMANPOUR: But we're talking about -- we're talking about America here.
GADIEL: We're talking about right now a very small number of people in this country. And what we are afraid of, is that as the number grows, the violence will grow, as we have seen in Holland, and as we see in Germany, and as we see in England. Do we have a reason to be afraid of Muslims right now? No, the number's not very great. But your mosques, moderate, wherever they are, have been infiltrated and have a history of being infiltrated by radicals. And you can't deny it. And you may, for all I know, not be a moderate you pretend to be, because you may be engaging in takia and be engaging in lying for the purpose of furthering your religion.
(LAUGHTER)
...
ASLAN: Well, it comes from the - an organization, a neo - not - what the E.U. refers to as the neo-Nazi organization called Stop Islamization of Europe. And that kind of institutionalized Islamophobia is precisely what your organization, Stop Islamization of America, is importing into the United States. And honestly, you're on the wrong side of history. And very soon, in a couple of decades, you will be sweeped and your ideas will be sweeped into the garbage bin of history, along with the anti-Semites of the 20th century and the anti-Catholics of the 19th century.
(APPLAUSE)
SPENCER: Here again, Reza Aslan is displacing responsibility and trying to act as if this is something that I am doing that is illegitimate, or something that I have created. When actually, you look at the writings of 20th century -- muslim brotherhood theorists like and people like Madudi in Pakistan, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami -- he says, "Non Muslims have absolutely no right to wield the reins of power in any part of God's earth. And, if they do, it is the believer's responsibility to dislodge them from that power by any means possible."
Christian Amanpour gave everybody room to talk. The Muslims on the panel tried but failed to dispel the truths spoken by those opposed to Islam spreading in America.
If Amanpour was hoping for a kumbaya moment, she didn't get one.
Why would anyone think Daisy Khan is worthy of attention?
Other than tax cheating and slum lording - what are her qualifications?
This was CNN trying for a PR effort for the GZ Mosque. They brought on a few who would appear “radical” so that Daisy could appear sympathetic and moderate.
They screwed up the execution - but that was the plan.
Seems to me Amanpour accomplished exactly what she wanted to accomplish: she equated Graham, et al with the Islamist guy, as the “crazy” nutjobs, while protraying the others as the sensible “moderate” ones.
Muslims are. So far we are not. We continue to shed blood in their hellholes by fighting humanely against savages...and we continue to let more into the country. Both GOP and Dem elites continue to “differentiate” - IS THAT WHY WE CONTINUALY SEND BILLIONS TO TERROR SUPPORTING STATES LIKE THOSE IN THE ARABIA PENINSULA AND EGYPT AND TURKEY?
This should be our mantra: the only good muslim is a converted one—converted to Christianity and to sanity.
Yeah, it always comes to this. Illogic in the service of name-calling when some one senses he has no argument. So I'm a bad Christian and genocidal into the bargain? I'm a bad Christian because I don't recognize that someone who rejects Christ as The Savior is saved by Christ?
And I'm genocidal because I'm wary of people who revere and follow a “prophet” who spread his “religion SOLEY by the sword, who PERSONALLY raped and slaughtered with his own hands and called for the slaughter of all others who refuse to “submit” to Islam, and who have to the present day driven out all others WHERE EVER they have gained a majority?
Are people who recognized the Communists for the America hating threat that they were and are “genocidal” as well?
Christ died for anyone who would follow Him. Anyone who wants to CAN follow Him. But Christ can't help ANYONE who turns their back upon Him.
ASLAN: Because they see the world in exactly the same way. There is no such thing as one Christianity, no matter what Franklin Graham thinks.
False. There IS one Christianity. It is a faith with bottom line suppositions that must be believed. Period.
And the bedrock is that God became man (the Incarnation). Who denies this is Anti-Christ according the St John the Beloved Apostle.
Islam (moderate OR radical) denies this. Figure it out.
“Or will she be spared?”
She is letting her moustache grow.
Watch This!!
Here’s the video broadcast from ABC:
Man-O-Man. I’ve heard that Europe, specifically England has got major Radical Islam problems. Well, just listen to the dude that speaks from London ABC! And more!
I am not saying we shouldn't be careful. I am as suspicious and wary of the growth of Islam in the west as anyone. A review of my time on FR will show that.
You're not really being called names, TB. I'm trying to share my pov. The Great Commission is incumbent upon His followers. Of course we are to be wise about our actions--we are NOT supposed to surrender to the forces of evil. We can agree on that, I am sure. Jesus didn't do that, and we shouldn't either.
Of course, he didn't go in guns blazing at every sinner, either. And neither did His followers.
If I misunderstood your position, I apologize--my position, in part, is that we must distinguish wisely between those with the label "Muslim" and the Islamofascists who wish us harm. There is a difference. I think that is what Franklin Graham was saying, and I am trying to echo the sentiment.
Can we allow for freedom of religion while insisting at the same time there is only one "way, truth and life"? I think history and practical experience tells us yes.
They are telling us their plan. Islam plans to take over the world including the United States. Yet the liberals and progressives refuse to see it. They are just as ignorant and wrong about the evils of Islam as they were about Communism. They are perpetually on the wrong side of history.
As the left keeps vacuuming our traditional values out of our society something will fill the void
But maybe Amanpour is a moderate muslim....but not a moderate libtard moron.
Maybe she want to write another koran???....Coooool
Ping to home
“Muslim Leader on ABC’s This Week: Islam Will Conquer the White House”
So True.
Here’s the 17-minute video clip...
The difference between Christianity and Islam is that Christianity seeks to convince the mind while Islam demands the physical subjugation of the body.
Thought vs. threat.
That’s encouraging, but I’m afraid that your experience was the exception, not the rule.
Exactly...why do we continue to let them in? Do the people in charge actually think they're going to calm down and blend in??? I doubt they think this.
And why don't we start drilling our own oil - while still looking for alternate fuel sources? Why are we playing into the "global" idea when what most of the rest of the world wants from America is our money that we earned by our own initiative -despite zero thinking we stole it from poor Kenyans. Along that line of thinking why doesn't zero think we are stealing from poor Arabs by buying their oil?
And why, after 9/11, did America elect Hussein???? Yeah, it rhymes with insane.
They preach a false “prophet Jesus” (who supposedly wasn’t crucified for our sins) who will return along with the “Mahdi” and “correct” the “false” New Testament and Torah to where it agrees with Islam and usher in “peace and safety” and all that jazz. Warning lights and bells anyone?!
bkmk
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